Dodgers Eyeing Aramis, Headley

The Dodgers have identified Aramis Ramirez as a potential trade target in case the Brewers decide to trade veteran players this summer, Yahoo's Tim Brown reports (on Twitter). However, the Dodgers prefer Chase Headley of the Padres.

Ramirez signed a three-year, $36MM contract with Milwaukee last offseason. The 34-year-old has ten home runs and a .272/.346/.475 batting line through 338 plate appearances so far in 2012. The 40-45 Brewers aim to establish themselves as contenders after the All-Star beak, when they play the Pirates, Cardinals and Reds.

Headley, 28, has a .267/.368/.413 batting line in 370 plate appearances for the Padres. He earns $3.48MM this year and will remain under team control through 2014. The 34-53 Padres figure to be sellers this summer, though they may hesitate to deal within the NL West.

Los Angeles has a clear need at the hot corner; Dodgers third basemen rank 26th in MLB with a combined .631 OPS. Manager Don Mattingly was relying on a combination of Jerry Hairston Jr., Juan Uribe, Adam Kennedy and Luis Cruz at the position leading up to the All-Star break.

Comments

Personally, I’d love the trade. Dump his contract or pick up some good prospects to reload for next year or a couple years down the road. Plug in Taylor Green at third to play everyday and see what he can do; I know he hasn’t done much so far, but Gamel didn’t do much either when he only got sporadic playing time.

Plus, with the money saved (12 million next year, 18 million year after), we’d free up money to make a run at Greinke, or to sign Marcum and some bullpen guys.

Dotel was worse than the player we traded for and we kept him for 3 weeks. Headley is young and has years of team control left. There’s a massive difference. Headley is the guy we’ve been wanting Colletti to trade good pieces for.

How could Gould possibly be enough to acquire Headley when that’s what the cost was going to be to acquire Carlos Lee? Obviously, Headley has more value than Lee so the Padres should receive more than Gould in a trade.

Ok than for arguments sake Gould +, but that plus cannot be someone with a higher ceiling than Gould. I personally thought Gould for Carlos Lee was a reach on Colletti’s part and was glad Carlos nixed it

Actually from the reports it seems the Dodgers nixed the Carlos Lee deal because Lee wasn’t making up his mind. (And see what that got him.) Headley is a total seller’s market. The Padres have no incentive to move him, so the price will be steep.

I still wouldn’t hammer Lee for holding off on where he wanted to play. he earned that right and his choice if he didn’t want to play in California for various issues.

Youk, even with his problems was having in Boston. They gave him to the Chisox for basically nothing and ended up paying all but around 2m of his salary. LAD could have offered just about anything and topped Lillibridge and Zach Stewert and even if Youk would have had problems hitting in LA? Still been a huge upgrade over that carousel they currently employ.

Lee is probably the prospect chip it will take (plus other lesser prospects) to get Headley from San Diego.

I like Lee A LOT, but I also see Headley as a guy who the Dodgers will have under control for 2 more years after this season as has a career split of .327 avg/.409 obp/.509 slg at Dodger Stadium and an away split of .299/.366/.445 (versus .234/.325/.339 at PetCo).

Zach Lee is not that incredible a prospect. He does not have ace potential. Maybe a future Billingsley, and that’s probably at best.

Headley is above average, especially if you consider his position, and the fact he plays half his games in Petco. He’s hitting .275/.378/.471 away from Petco this season and .299/.366/.445 for his career.

Headley would be a HUGE boost for the Dodgers. 3B has been a black hole for us since Beltre.

You are certainly right about the black hole at third. This is almost a Dodger tradition. But you can’t be so sure about Lee and Gould for Headley being a great deal for the Dodgers, because this requires knowing an awful lot about the future. Projecting the careers of two players who are at the very beginnings of their minor league careers is like advanced witchcraft.

As a Padre fan, the Dodgers do not match up well with the Padre’s needs. We have plenty of upper level pitching prospects, probably the most in MLB; therefore, the Padre needs are middle infield and power hitting corner outfield prospects, none of which the Dodgers have. Why would the Padres trade Headley for Gould who probably would not make our top 20 prospects list?

Kelly, Erlin, Weiland, Stauffer, and Bass all have arm injuries. Luebke and Oramas just had TJ surgery. Sampson and Ross are having disappointing seasons. The Padres had pitching depth. Pitching might be just what they go after with all the injuries.

The Padres have enough pitching with Jason Marquis, Ross Ohlendorf, and Kip Wells currently in the rotation? O-K. Erlin, Kelly, and Weiland may join Luebke and Oramas in recovering from TJ surgery. That’s usually 1-2 years before they are 100%. Bass and Stauffer may be back this year, or to start next year and Cashner has an injury history. The Padres pitching depth is decimated. Where are all these pitchers you speak of?

You’re forgetting to account for his road splits. Much like Coors Field, you can’t take his home stats as his true stats. Away from Petco his career line is a much better .299/.366/.445. Not to mention that, in his career, he’s been excellent in Dodger Stadium (.327/.409/.509) The Dodgers are deep in pitching (Webster (No. 2 prospect for LA), Reed (Pitched in the future’s game, and the already in the MLB Eovaldi) they can afford to get rid of Lee, when considering the fact that we have a lot of pitching in the minors, we’re likely to get Cole Hamels in FA, and we’re likely to deal for Matt Garza of the Cubs.

I agree! Also, ‘road splits’ are not good indicators. Bottom line 10 HRs is mediocre at best. We are trying to step up to be competitive at the highest level. I still think that corner infielders need to be at least 20 plus HR players and 80 plus RBIs. We now have money….let’s use it and get what we need. Keep our young prospects unless we can get a proven impact player.

Good story on Zach Lee today on MLB Network Radio by Jeff Joyce, Jim Bowden & Kevin Goldstein. Many scouts and evaluators see him as a non – frontline starter but rather a #3 at best, but does display a good fastball and a plus slider.

If the dodgers do trade Lee it isn’t going to be for Chase Headley. Why settle for Headley? Use him to get someone better at a different position. Regardless if Lee isn’t as good as he’s made out to be, he’s still our top prospect. And Headley is not worth anyone’s top prospect.

Lee is a very good prospect, probably top 50, but he’s not a great prospect. He’s certainly not an A prospect. Being your #1 prospect doesn’t improve his prospect status or his value. Headley is easily worth Lee+. He’s one of the best at his position, he’s young, controllable, and cheap. Good luck putting together a package of prospects for a better player than Headley.

You can take what Headley is “worth” and throw it right out the window along with everything Baseball America says, since that’s got almost nothing to do with what it would take to get him in trade. The real market value is based on the number of available players at that position and the number of teams in need of players at that position. Forget all those other abstractions. They don’t hardly mean a thing where the rubber hits the road.

I don’t pretend to know what someone will or won’t be for their entire career, and not especially after only a couple of years in the minors. But it’s certainly true that Headley is one of the better position players who might be available so that’s going to drive his value in trade.

If he would its only because 2-3 of the Padres top 5 in preseason lists are in ML now, depending on the list you are looking at. More realistically he sits 7-10 on current Padres prospect lists with additions of this years draft picks.

Who else would be in front of Lee? I’m basing this off of Gyorko being the only Padre listed on BA mid season list and he was behind Lee. Someone else pointed out that Law has Liriano and Fried very high. Grandal and Alonso are not eligible because they are in the big leagues. Wieland, Kelly, and Erlin all have serious arm injuries that may turn into TJ surgery. Sampson isn’t having a great year and probably isn’t even top 100. Spangenberg is not having a great year either and he’s on the DL. Who are the other 3-9 prospects you think would rank ahead of him? Lee is top 50 in baseball according to some and you think the Padres have 6-9 top 50 prospects in baseball?

They have elbow injuries and have been out for a while. It’s just speculation. Corey Brock updated Wieland and Bass’ status today by saying, “Wieland (elbow) will meet with team doctor tomorrow. Surgery is a possibility. Bass (shoulder) still having soreness. No timetable” Daniel Berk updated Kelly’s status today by saying, “Casey Kelly has thrown two bullpens and will now throw a simulated game. Kennedy estimated he’s 2-3 weeks away if things hold up.” I haven’t heard anything about Erlin’s injury. That scares me the most.

Both Fried and
Eflin have greater upside, but draft picks are not on the lists yet.
Weickel has higher upside too, but less projectability.

I still like Weiland better if he doesnt have Tommy John and Spangenberg is still highly regarded (top 2B prospect in league). His season in High A is actually better than Lee’s, but he’s blocked at SA by Galvez who in turn is blocked by Gyorko at Tucson.

Erlin was throwing 200 ft long toss this week, so unless he has had setback in last couple of days he should be throwing from mound soon and back by end of month.

The resurgence of Adys Portillo has shown that he is the quality pitcher we thought from the beginning and he has MUCH higher ceiling than Lee. A possible ace with high 90’s fastball and improving off speed stuff.

Casey Kelly is a top of the rotation starter (#1-#2) and only his injury this season has dampened my enthusiasm for him. San Antonio is in my area so I got to see Kelly a number of times in the 2nd half last year and made it a point to see him in both of his starts for Tucson this season. He is an incredible talent. A ground ball machine. Kelly’s injury is not going to result in TJ.

Personally, I would rank Galvez and Peterson higher simply because I value an every day position player higher than a #3-#4 upside starting pitcher, but BA obviously doesnt. Galvez has absolutely exploded in 38 games since coming off DL.

I would agree that if you only go off the BA rankings he would be 5th.

Baseball America had Lee #49 in baseball in front of the Padres #1 prospect Gyorko at #50. Kelly and Erlin have serious elbow injuries. Sampson isn’t having a very good season. He would be our best prospect.

Just because Headley is one of a million players who performs better outside of the PetCo cavern doesn’t mean he is going to command a teams #1 prospect. Absolutely, his numbers are better on the road, immensely. But does that mean he is going to automatically become a .300 hitter at Chavez Ravine? Nice little player, but not a star anywhere but San Diego. Now, combine Headley with a decent starting pitcher like Clayton Richard, you might get a top prospect return.

He is worth a teams #1 prospect when that team is in the division and that teams #1 prospect might not be a top 50 guy. It’s not as though they are expecting a Profar, Bundy, Cole or Bauer. Lee is a good prospect on most teams, not a #1, that is more a reflection on the Doders poor farm system.

Many teams have showed interest in him. He has been one of the best 3rd baseman this year and he hits better on the road. He has been the best player on the padres in almost every offensive category and he has great defense. Very patient and seems to work a fullcount almost every at-bat. surrounded by Matt kemp and Andre either would only make him a better hitter.We dont have to give him up and Byrnes wants to be blown away by an offer to pull a trigger on the trade. Its like just because our team has sucked the last 2 years you expect them to give him away for free!

I agree Headley isn’t worth many teams top 3 prospects, however in the Dodgers case they really don’t have a deep system anyway. The pitching prospects they have aren’t exactly playing like top prospects-and if I’m Byrnes that’s what I’m gonna argue. The Padres have all the leverage in the trade talks, we don’t need to trade him and honestly i don’t want to see him in a Dodgers jersey anyway. Headley’s peak value will come this offseason also, so i would wait til then to get the best offer.

You are ignoring the fact that he’s one of the best players at the position in the game. How many 3B are available that are as good or better than Headley? How many are young, controllable, and affordable? There are many factors that determine the value of a player, and Headley is very valuable. Yeah, he’d be the 3rd or 4th best player on some teams. That doesn’t take away from his value.

To be honest, the Pads do not need to trade him, they do have offers from other teams so there is a market out there for him. Its in the division, the pads and the rest of MLB knows we are looking for a 3rd baseman. I mean seriously, everybody knows we are desperate for an upgrade. They have all the leverage they need to pry Lee from us.

The market is hot for Headley this Summer. If the Dodgers don’t want to cough up 1st tier prospects, someone else will. It cracks me up to see these Dodgers fans bash Headley and insist on not giving anyone up. You would be lucky to get Headley at any price; he’s a class guy and an intelligent player who has not yet reached his peak. He’s got a big career year coming very soon…I hope he sticks with the Padres.

Please pardon my fellow Dodger fans. I, for one, realize Headley is worth a heck of a lot. Zach Lee and Garrett Gould would be a small price to pay for a 3B that has hit .299/.366/.445 for his career outside of Petco and comes with two seasons of team control.

If the Dodgers system was what it was back in the 90’s when they were rolling out Rookie of the Years award winners over and over, I could see why people would be against trading their #1 prospect, but with their system in disarray, I don’t see an issue. As a Padre fan, I would like to thank you for realizing Headley’s worth and for realizing that trading a player of Headley’s ilk within the division is going to take quite an offer. To be honest, I’m not sure if the Dodgers have the top line talent that Byrnes should be looking for anyways.

C’mon man, you know the Manny deal is not gonna happen. The guy is one of the Top 5 prospects in the entire game and plays a premium position. He’s been compared to A-Rod and is a once in a decade talent. The O’s ain’t gonna sell that for Headley and Spangenburg.

Different animal as Greinke is a FA at end of season and Headley has two more years of team control.

ESPN has great article on value of potential trade targets and Headley is #2, but they say he will bring more in return than #1 because of being inexpensive and under team control. They mention Baltimore as the top candidate to land Headley.And remember: Prospects are prospects, not sure things, regardless of how high they are ranked and Machado has not broken the top 10 yet.

Personally, I would say that Headley has more trade value than Greinke. A lot of it would depend on a team’s situation, but Greinke is a 2 month rental while Headley has 2 years of team control after this year. I don’t think Machado will be traded, but a package of Headley and top tier prospect/s would have a better chance than a 2 month rental of Greinke.

I think the eventual return on a Headley deal is going to surprise a lot of people. He has a lot more power than he shows at Petco, he plays good defense, has an incredible eye at the plate, and even throws in 10-20 SB a year for good measure. The stolen bases are particularly impressive–Headley is NOT a fast baserunner. He is a smart one.

Forget Headley keep our prospects, forget what people are saying about Lee he will be a solid MLB starter. Pay the money and get Aramis he’ll hit 20 plus home runs and that’s what we need.Headley doesn’t show that kind of power could turn out to be another Loney i.e. 12 home runs a year or so. We don’t need to out think ourselves with speculation we have money to spend now so get a proven producer and keep our young arms!

It’s not that my comment is pointless it’s that you are missing the point. The point is why get all hyped up about a player who is mediocre at best.That is what has happened with Loney throughout his career.The position doesn’t matter, what matters is the fact that there is not that much to get excited about with Headley. Aramis has demonstrated that he will hit 20 plus home runs,drive-in runs and hit with a decent average.Plus coming to a new team would most likely motivate him to play at his best which could mean 30 plus home runs. He has already demonstrated the up side that is only speculative about Headley. Again, we have the money and we have young talent why not use the money and keep the talent to get a proven impact player?

this just my point of view. i get it headly is the pad best player for years. and he might be getting better. but when looking at his trade value. i would be smart and think about the futre not just the now when looking who to trade for headly. to add something else. headly is good but there is still a guy name David wright who i say is better but cost more. but headly is one of the best 3rd best man in the game. but he not the best

The Mets aren’t going to trade David Wright. They are 4.5 games out of first place and they have a $16m option on him for next season. Considering how Wright’s been playing, they will pick up that option. The Dodgers have no chance at acquiring Wright.

i know he not on the trade market. but im just saying that what i would give up for him if were talkig 3rd basemen. because i feel what you guys want for headly is a little much for a guy who avg .270 10 HR and 50RBis. yea he might get better stats but how much better? there just too much to question.

PLease tell me who is a viable option at 3rd for the blue? There isnt one, simply put supply and demand. We need a 3rd baseman and they have one that they are willing to give up for the right price. Wright is awesome but the Mets are in contention for a Wild card. Did i mention that Headly will cost nearly 20mill less than Wright over then next 2 yrs? I know it seems like Lee is the future but when there is a offer you cant pass up, do it.

You are comparing apples and oranges. The offensive demands or expectations of a 3rd baseman are not what they once were and they certainly aren’t anywhere near that of a 1st baseman. Having said that, Headley is a better hitter than Loney when you take into account what parks they play in. Headley would hit 15-20 HR in that park and I am well aware that it favors pitchers.

I think the Padres match up well with Baltimore. They have a guy playing second base at AA ball that is a shortstop, but since they have Machado already at SS, he moved over. I think the guy’s name is Schoop. Schoop, Matsuz, and one other B prospect who is a postion player.

Honestly i think we can acquire better prospects, and i believe schoop was moved because his defense profiles better at second not because of Machado. I think we match up better with the phillies or even the braves, who in the offseason would be looking to replace Jones-but they still do have Prado.

Thank god, hopefully they acquire a big bat, either left or third, cause uribe, kennedy are just horrible to watch, not great bat or glove. I personally like ramirez, big bat, solid hitter, aight glove, and would be cheaper, just have to take on money.

How come no one is talking a SD/ AZ deal. With Padre ownership the (O.Malley’s family whose late Grandfather brought the Dodgers to LA, now about to buy the Padres, what a big splash of a deal bringing Upton to SD and AZ getting Headley.
SD- acquiring Upton, Drew if he agrees to a new contract.
AZ- acquiring Headley, Quentin if he agrees to a new contract.
AZ gets the 3rd baseman and another bat.
SD- gets the power hitter, with speed and a starting Shortstop.

Upton’s contract isn’t bad, especially considering the padres only have something like 11m committed to next year ha. It would be a great way for the new ownership group to build rapport with the fans.

SD would have to include prospects as well. I would leave Quentin and Drew out of it though, i wouldn’t want a deal to be left to two guys signing extensions plus we could possibly get more by trading Quentin elsewhere or even resign him. SD acquires Upton and AZ gets Headley and prospects.

Does anyone else think Headley is grossly overrated? While Petco & the poor offensive line-up he has in San Diego has dimmed what would be better stats if say he played in a stacked line-up hitting in a AL East bandbox. Thing is…how much better? I doubt he would be better than .280/.350/20 homers a season.

So he’s only going to gain 13 points in average and he’s going to lose 18 points in OBP? LOL… If you want to see what kind of player Headley could be in another park, check out his road numbers, or look at park adjusted stats like OPS+. Headley has been one of the best at his position and he’s likely going to get better.

The Padres do not have to make a trade just because they are not in contention. The Padres got 2 top 100 prospects last year for Mike Adams when they did not have to trade him. Some fans may not want Headley, but he will pull a very good package if he moves. The Padres really have no incentive to move Headley…. they dont need to reduce payroll, they covet hitters, and they dont need to improve their farm system. Bottom line, they have extreme leverage given the lack of available 3B. Headley will haul either 2 top 80 prospects + a lesser throw in, or 3 top 150 prospects with upside. Very simple… supply amd demand favors the Padres.

Well then, its settled. Padres fans just want to hang onto Headley and Quentin instead of maxing out their value in legitimate, real life deals. Best of luck to the Friars, I’ve always liked them and hope their rebuilding project isn’t delayed more than 2 or 3 years due to the inability to deal their veterans. Enjoy 75-78 wins each year until 2015.

And, yes, I agree that Headley is worth Lee plus other lesser prospects to the Dodgers.

At first I was conflicted about giving up our best prospect, but given the dearth of options at 3B (even Edwin Encarnacion just extended with the Jays) going forward, parting with Lee to get Headley makes sense.

I could very easily see Headley average .290 with an .800 OPS and hit 20 HRs and 15 or so SBs for the Dodgers the next couple years for the Dodgers. He just turned 28. He’s heading into his prime.

I think that really depends. For example, if we trade Greinke to Texas and get Mike Olt in the deal, I think it would make sense to see if we could get some pitching (say, Zach Lee?) from the Dodgers for Aramis. But, such a scenario occurring is fairly unlikely, unless the Rangers just can’t get Hamels.

This is a reply to the comment below. I’m not suggesting we trade for a ML ready player or pitcher. I think we should target the most talent period. I’m saying they shouldn’t just look at hitters because our pitching has been decimated by injuries. Get the best talent you can and quality>quantity.

He also has given up more hits than innings pitched and a lot of runs. I realize that he’s young for the levels, and his SO/BB ratio is good, but that doesn’t make his overall performance “very good” like you suggested. I never said that you suggested he was an ace. I was simply pointing out that he isn’t as great of a prospect as most Dodgers fans seem to think he is. I acknowledged that he is around the top 50.

What ML ready or near ready pitcher would you suggest targeting? I dont want to see the Padres target prospects out of need. Need is a terrible evaluator of talent… might have beensaid by Brian Billick, not sure but the point is there.

You basically just described in your 3rd paragraph his command issues…. so I am not sure why you are so combative. You might want to consider not speaking so derogatory towards people, especially when your wrong.

Reading alot more into one statement of “preference” than needs to be. I would argue more on the market conditions than on Headleys pure value. I think you are underestimating the market for Headley. The Pads may not get an elite prospect but I would still “prefer” it ober quantity.

Condescending? How about ” if you didnt make up crap youd never write anything” I could see how my statement could be condescending if taken as sarcastic or if you knew that I knew you were aware of what command is. However, since there have been reports of Lee needing to improve his command to move closer to the bigs and since websoul said command as opposed to control…. I dont think it was a stretch for me to suggest you may have mixed up command and control. I consider having a good feel for a pitch to be part of command, If you are not comfortable with a pitch then command of that pitch should be questioned. Either way, I essentially agree with you on Lees value and potential.

You are exactly correct, the smart front offices have developed their own methodology and metrics for evaluating players… they dont unfortunately share those with us. In this case, one only needs to hav ewatched Headley over and over to come to the same conclusions that those metrics will show…. fact is Headley is a very good, albeit non flashy, baseball player. Solid all around and undervalued by those that overvalue BA and HR stats.

As a fan i am sure you would expect both…..but thats not what is going to happen. Its one or the other, pay some cash for better prospects or the Dodgers take it all on and give “meh” prospects. This is not Wright we are talking about

Mediocre player? Name 10 3B better than him…you can’t, there aren’t 10 3B better than him. His splits away from Petco are very good (.299/.366/.445) and even better in Dodgers Stadium (.327/.409/.509) This is a guy who has been clearly held back by Petco Park. If the Dodgers can get him for only Lee and Gould, they should pull the trigger (We still have Webster and Reed as top pitching prospects, not to mention Eovaldi is already up in the Majors, potentially getting Cole Hamels in free agency, and potentially trading for Matt Garza of the Cubs)